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Directed Assembly of Elastin-like Proteins into defined Supramolecular Structures and Cargo Encapsulation In Vitro
* These authors contributed equally
In This Article
Summary
At the interface of organic and aqueous solvents, tailored amphiphilic elastin-like proteins assemble into complex supramolecular structures such as vesicles, fibers and coacervates triggered by environmental parameters. The described assembly protocols yield Protein Membrane-Based Compartments (PMBCs) with tunable properties, enabling the encapsulation of various cargo.
Abstract
Tailored proteinaceous building blocks are versatile candidates for the assembly of supramolecular structures such as minimal cells, drug delivery vehicles and enzyme scaffolds. Due to their biocompatibility and tunability on the genetic level, Elastin-like proteins (ELP) are ideal building blocks for biotechnological and biomedical applications. Nevertheless, the assembly of protein based supramolecular structures with distinct physiochemical properties and good encapsulation potential remains challenging.
Here we provide two efficient protocols for guided self-assembly of amphiphilic ELPs into supramolecular protein architectures such as spherical coacervates, fibers and stable vesicles. The presented assembly protocols generate Protein Membrane-Based Compartments (PMBCs) based on ELPs with adaptable physicochemical properties. PMBCs demonstrate phase separation behavior and reveal method dependent membrane fusion and are able to encapsulate chemically diverse fluorescent cargo molecules. The resulting PMBCs have a high application potential as a drug formulation and delivery platform, artificial cell, and compartmentalized reaction space.
Introduction
The assembly of supramolecular structures for biotechnological applications is becoming increasingly important1,2,3,4,5. For the assembly of functional architectures such as coacervates, vesicles, and fibers with desired physicochemical properties it is important to understand and control the physicochemical and conformational properties of the components. Due to the molecular precision of molecules found in nature, building blocks for supramolecular structures are increasingly based on lipids, nucleic acid....
Protocol
1. Design and cloning of amphiphilic elastin-like proteins (ELPs)
- Clone and design the constructs as described elsewhere8,20. Plasmids are available upon request.
2. Protein expression, purification and preparation
- Expression of F20E20-mEGFP and F20E20-mCherry
- Inoculate main expression culture from overnight pre-culture to an OD600 of 0.3. Incubate at 37 °C, 200 rpm in sterile .......
Representative Results
Protocol development for vesicle production
Figure 1 outlines the two different vesicle preparation methods. The THF swelling method on the left side is composed of three successive steps and results in different supramolecular assemblies of the ELP depending on the temperature. In Figure 1A epifluorescence microscopy images show vesicles assembled from BDP-R20F20 and fibrillary structures assembled from BDP-R4.......
Discussion
A fault while following the described protocols for the assembly of defined supramolecular structures mainly leads either to the formation of unspecific aggregates (Figure 2, IV) or to homogeneously distributed ELP-amphiphiles. Critical steps of the protocol are discussed below:
For high expression yield of the amphiphilic ELP, a relatively low temperature of 20°C is optimal. For successful affinity based purification of the amphiphilic ELP an urea conce.......
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the BMBF for financial support and the Center for Biological Systems Analysis (ZBSA) for providing the research facility. We are grateful to P. G. Schultz, TSRI, La Jolla, California, USA for providing the plasmid pEVOL-pAzF. We thank the staff of the Life Imaging Center (LIC) in the Center for Biological Systems Analysis (ZBSA) of the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg for help with their confocal microscopy resources, and the excellent support in image recording.
....Materials
| Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
| 1 µm and 0.2 µm Steril Filter | VWR | ||
| 1,4-Dithiothreitol | Merck | ||
| 1-butanol. >99.5% p.a. | Roth | ||
| 2log DNA ladder | NEB | ||
| 2-Mercaptoethanol | Roth | ||
| 50 mL Falcon tubes | VWR | ||
| 79249 Alkyne Mega Stokes dye | Sigma Aldrich | ||
| Acetic acid glacial | VWR | ||
| Acetonitrile, anhydrous, 99.8% | Sigma-Aldrich | ||
| Ampicillin sodium-salt, 99% | Roth | ||
| BDP-FL-PEG4-DBCO | Jena Bioscience | ||
| Biofuge | Heraeus | ||
| Bottle Top Filter with PES membrane (45 µm, 22 µm) | Thermo Scientific | ||
| Brillant Blue G250 (Coomassie) | Roth | ||
| BspQI | NEB | ||
| Camera DS Qi1 | Nikon | ||
| Centrifuge 5417r | Eppendorf | ||
| Centrifuge 5810r | Eppendorf | ||
| CF-400-Cu square mesh copper grid | EMS | ||
| Chloramphenicol | Roth | ||
| CompactStar CS 4 | VWR | ||
| Dextran, Texas Red, 3000 MW, neutral | Life Technologies | ||
| Digital sonifier | Branson | ||
| Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) | Applichem | ||
| Dnase I | Applichem | ||
| EarI | NEB | ||
| EcoRI-HF | NEB | ||
| Environmental shaker incubator ES-20 | Biosan | ||
| Ethanol absolute | Roth | ||
| Ethidium bromide solution | Roth | ||
| Filter supports | Avanti | ||
| Glass plates | Bio-Rad | ||
| Glycerol Proteomics Grade | Amresco | ||
| Glycin | Applichem | ||
| H4-Azido-Phe-OH | Bachhem | ||
| Heat plate MR HeiTec | Heidolph | ||
| HindIII | NEB | ||
| HisTrap FF crude column | GE Life Sciences | Nickel column | |
| Hydrochloride acid fuming, 37%, p.a. | Merck | ||
| Illuminator ix 20 | INTAS | ||
| Illuminator LAS-4000 | Fujifilm | ||
| Imidazole | Merck | ||
| Immersions oil for microscopy | Merck | ||
| Incubators shakers Unimax 1010 | Heidolph | ||
| Inkubator 1000 | Heidolph | ||
| IPTG, >99% | Roth | ||
| Kanamycinsulfate | Roth | ||
| L(+)-Arabinose | Roth | ||
| Laboratory scales Extend ed2202s/224s-OCE | Sartorius | ||
| LB-Medium | Roth | ||
| Lyophilizer Alpha 2-4 LSC | Christ | ||
| Lysozyme, 20000 U/mg | Roth | ||
| Microscope CM 100 | Philips | ||
| Microscope Eclipse TS 100 | Nikon | ||
| Microscopy cover glasses (15 x 15 mm) | VWR | ||
| Microscopy slides | VWR | ||
| Microwave | Studio | ||
| Mini-Extruder Set | Avanti Polar Lipids | ||
| NaCl, >99.5%, p.a. | Roth | ||
| Natriumhydroxid pellets | Roth | ||
| Ni-NTA Agarose, PerfectPro | 5 Prime | ||
| Nucleopore Track-Etch Membrane | Avanti | ||
| PH meter 766 calimatic | Knick | ||
| Phenylmethylsulfonylflourid (PMSF) | Roth | ||
| Polypropylene Columns (1 mL) | Qiagen | ||
| PowerPac basic | BioRad | ||
| Propanol-2-ol | Emplura | ||
| Protein ladder 10-250 kDa | NEB | ||
| Recirculating cooler F12 | Julabo | ||
| Reinforcement rings | Herma | ||
| SacI HF | NEB | ||
| SDS Pellets | Roth | ||
| Sodiumdihydrogen phosphate dihydrate, NaH2PO4 | VWR | ||
| Sterile syringe filter 0.2 mm Cellulose Acetate | VWR | ||
| T4 DNA Ligase | NEB | ||
| TEMED | Roth | ||
| TexasRed Dextran-Conjugate | MolecularProbes | ||
| Thermomix comfort | Eppendorf | ||
| THF, >99.5% p.a. | Acros | ||
| Triton X 100 | Roth | ||
| Trypton/Pepton from Casein | Roth | ||
| Ultrasonic cleaner | VWR | ||
| Urea p.a. | Roth | ||
| Vacuum pump 2.5 | Vacuubrand | ||
| XbaI | NEB | ||
| XhoI | NEB | ||
| ZelluTrans regenerated cellulose tubular membrane (12.0 S/ 3.5 S/ 1.0 V) | Roth |
References
- Elzoghby, A. O., Samy, W. M., Elgindy, N. A. Protein-based nanocarriers as promising drug and gene delivery systems. Journal of Controlled Release. 161 (1), 38-49 (2012).
- Jang, Y., Champion, J. A. Self-Assembled Mat....
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